Arsenal have announced a £46.1m profit from the summer's controversial transfer dealings, when the former captain Cesc Fábregas left for Barcelona and Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy departed for Manchester City. Fans whose ticket prices increased 6.5% have voiced concerns at a drop in the quality of players at the Emirates Stadium, although Arsenal spent £49m on signing new players, including Mikel Arteta, for £10m, Per Mertesacker (£8m) and André Santos (£7m) on a frantic final day of the August transfer window. Swollen by the sales of Fábregas, for £30m, Nasri (£24m) and Clichy (£7m), Arsenal declared a pre-tax profit of £49.5m for the six month period, compared with a loss of £5.9m for the similar period in 2010, when the £10m signing of Laurent Koscielny was Arsène Wenger's main transfer business. The income from football rose to £113.5m from £97.6m in the same period in 2010. The club said this was due to four more games having been played in 2011 compared to the previous year, and to increased commercial income, which included the ticket price hikes.

The accounts showed that Arsenal still owe £263m in long-term borrowings principally taken on to build the Emirates Stadium. Interest paid during the six-month period to November 2011 was £7.2m.

Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal chief executive, said the club has "a healthy cash balance of £115m", and emphasised that "there is money available" to Wenger to invest in players. Gazidis said the club's financial position means it will not suffer too damagingly if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League this season:

"I remain confident that we will be able to qualify," Gazidis said. "At the same time, we would be able to be resilient and reinvest in the squad if things didn't go our way."